170 ISSN 1069-3513, Izvestiya, Physics of the Solid Earth, 2007, Vol. 43, No. 2, pp. 170–176. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2007. Original Russian Text © I.E. Nachasova, K.S. Burakov, F. Molina, J.A. Cámara, 2007, published in Fizika Zemli, 2007, No. 2, pp. 76–83. INTRODUCTION This work is devoted to the study of the ancient geo- magnetic field intensity on the territory of Spain. Data on the geomagnetic field intensity on the territory of Spain in the period from the 6th to the 1st millennium BC have been obtained in the papers [Nachasova et al., 2002a, 2002b; Burakov et al., 2004, 2005], devoted to the study of the magnetization of ceramics from the Cendres Cave, La Motilla del Azuer, and Los Villares archaeological monuments. The results of these inves- tigations widened the longitudinal sector of data on the geomagnetic intensity variation available for the last millennia, which made it possible to study in more detail the variations in the field intensity of the 2nd mil- lennium BC and gain spatial constraints on the varia- tions in ancient time intervals (of the 5th millennium BC and older). The analysis of the entire set of data on the geomag- netic intensity variation in Eurasia has resulted in a number of significant conclusions. These data con- firmed the conclusion, previously obtained for other regions of Eurasia, according to which the observed geomagnetic intensity variation can be represented as the superposition of five oscillations with periods of a few thousand to a few hundred years, with their ampli- tudes and periods varying in time and in space. Of special interest is the study of the “fundamental” oscillation of the geomagnetic intensity. According to available data, the amplitude of the 8000-yr (fundamen- tal) oscillation of the geomagnetic intensity in Spain exceeds significantly its amplitude in other Eurasian regions. New data are required for a more accurate determination of the intensity level at extrema of the 8000-yr oscillation. New data on the geomagnetic field intensity in Spain are obtained in this work for the period from the middle of the 6th millennium BC through the first quarter of the 2nd millennium BC. THE STUDY OBJECT The Neolithic Los Castillejos multilayer site is located within the vast Las Peñas de Los Gitanos archaeological zone in the NW part of Granada prov- ince near the city of Montefrio (37°20′10″N, λ = 3°57′50″ W). The most extensive excavations of this site were made between 1971 and 1974 [Arribas and Molina, 1979a, 1979b; Molina, 1983] and between 1991 and 1994 [Ramos et al., 1997]. The excavated archaeologi- cal materials have revealed that the accumulation time of cultural layers of this multilayer site (the 24-layer excavation of trench 1/6) encompasses the major part of the upper Andalusian period from the Early Neolithic (layers 1–6) to the Early Bronze (layer 24); it is assumed that all layers of this site were accumulated continuously without intermixing in the period from 5500 to 1800 BC. Archaeological findings in the layers proved useful for the identification of certain cultural phases in the settlement history [Afonso et al., 1996; Sánchez, 1999; Ramos et al., 1997]. Using archaeological datings, the entire time interval under study was divided into the Archaeomagnetic Study of Ceramics from the Neolithic Los Castillejos Multilayer Monument (Montefrio, Spain) I. E. Nachasova a , K. S. Burakov a , F. Molina b , and J. A. Cámara b a Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences, Bol’shaya Gruzinskaya ul. 10, Moscow, 123995 Russia b Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, Granada University, Spain Received December 15, 2005 Abstract—The geomagnetic intensity variation from the middle of the 4th millennium BC to the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC is reconstructed from the archaeomagnetic study of ceramic material taken from 24 lay- ers of the Los Castillejos monument (Montefrio, Spain). The general patterns of the geomagnetic intensity vari- ation reconstructed by studying materials from the Cendres Cave and Los Castillejos monuments (Spain) are similar. The intensity level is revised in the time interval including the minimum of the “fundamental” oscilla- tion of the geomagnetic field; the characteristics of geomagnetic intensity variations whose superposition can provide the intensity variation observed in the study time interval are determined. Constraints on the climate humidity variation over the settlement lifetime are obtained from heating-induced variations in the magnetic susceptibility of the ceramics. PACS numbers: 91.25.Dx DOI: 10.1134/S1069351307020073